European lawmakers call for cutting food waste

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) on Tuesday presented proposals to cut food waste in the European Union.

MEPs called on EU countries to achieve food waste cuts by 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030. To this end, they called on the European Commission to lift existing restrictions on food donations and make consumers fully understand "best before" and "use by" labeling.

As for donations, the Commission should propose a change in the value-added tax (VAT) directive that would explicitly authorize tax exemptions on food donations. Moreover, the EU fund for European aid to the most deprived should get the possibility to finance the cost of collecting, transporting, storing and distributing of the food donations.

They called on the Commission to assess the possible benefits of removing certain dates for products without any risk to public health or the environment.

According to official figures, food waste has been estimated at some 88 million tons, or 173 kg per capita per year in the EU.

Among them, the highest food waste per capita per year is registered in the Netherlands, which is 541 kg. It was followed by Belgium's 345 kg. While the lowest food waste per capita per year is recorded in Slovenia, which is 72 kg. It is followed by Malta and Romania, which are both 76kg. Endit